Famous Puerto Ricans: D
Browse by last name.
43 people
Raymond Dalmau
One of Puerto Rico's greatest basketball players, Dalmau starred in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional and represented Puerto Rico internationally, becoming closely identified with the Piratas de Quebradillas.
Pedro Dávila Ortiz ("Davilita")
Beloved jíbaro singer and musician known for preserving Puerto Rican folk music and rural musical traditions.
José Dávila Ricci
Journalist and political leader who helped found the Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Periodistas and held leadership positions with several important Puerto Rican newspapers and magazines.
Antonio Dávila
Writer, journalist, and political thinker recognized for his essays and literary contributions during the early 20th century.
José Antonio Dávila
Poet and son of Puerto Rican poet Virgilio Dávila. Born October 7, 1898, in Bayamón, he studied medicine but became best known for his modernist poetry. His works include Vendimia (1940) and Almacén de Baratijas. He died December 4, 1941, in Bayamón.
Virgilio Dávila
Born January 28, 1869 in Toa Baja. Died August 22, 1943 in Bayamón and buried in the Porta Coeli Cemetary. Poet and writer celebrated for works that reflected Puerto Rican identity, rural traditions, and patriotism.
He was mayor of Bayamón for a few years. His poetry represents the traditional in Puerto Rican literature. In 1903, he published his first book of poems, "Patria", a collection of lyrical portraits of the island's landspace, love and Puerto Rican personalities like Jose; de Diego, Federico Degetau and Lola Rodriguez de Tio. He also published: "Viviendo y Amado" (1912), "Aromas del Terruno" (1916), "Pueblito de Antes" (1917), and "Un Libro Para Mis Nietos" (A Book for my Grandchildren; 1928).
Among his best-known poems are "Nostalgia", "Elegia de Reyes" and "No Des Tu Tierra al Extrano."
Clemente Ramírez de Arellano
Writer, poet, educator, and public servant who served as mayor of Manatí and became one of the municipality's leading intellectual figures. His literary work and civic leadership helped establish Manatí's reputation as "La Atenas de Puerto Rico" during the early twentieth century.
Emilia Villanueva de Armstrong
Educator and civic leader remembered for her contributions to public education and community development in southern Puerto Rico. She dedicated much of her career to improving educational opportunities for future generations.
Chuito el de Bayamón
Legendary jíbaro singer and composer celebrated for his improvisational talent and influence on Puerto Rican folk music.
Julia de Burgos
Born February 17, 1914 in Carolina. Died July 6, 1953 in New York City, at age 39. One of Puerto Rico's most celebrated poets, Julia de Burgos is recognized internationally for her passionate poetry exploring identity, love, feminism, and social justice. Her literary legacy continues to inspire readers around the world.
Considered one of Puerto Rico's leading 20th-century poets, influenced by Luis Llorens Torres, Clair Lair, Rafael Alberti and Pablo Neruda, she was a prominent member of the literary Vanguard movement in San Juan in the late 1930s. She was also an advocate for the independance of Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a teaching degree. Her literary work placed her among the greatest poets of Hispanic-America. Her best-known poem is "El Río Grande de Loiza". Other well-known poems are "Canción Desnuda," "Te Quiero," "A Julia de Burgos," "Yo Misma fui mi Ruta," and "Tres Caminos." She published several books among which are; "Poemas exactos de mi misma," "Poemas en Veinte Zurcos," and "Cancién de la verdad sencilla."
Blanca de Castejón
Actress Blanca de Castejón enjoyed a successful career during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and became one of Puerto Rico's pioneering actresses in film and theater.
Román Baldorioty de Castro
Born February 23, 1823 in Guaynabo. Román Baldorioty de Castro was an educator, writer, political leader, and prominent advocate for the abolition of slavery and greater political rights for Puerto Rico. Born in Guaynabo, he became one of the most influential Puerto Rican thinkers and public figures of the nineteenth century. Baldorioty received his elementary schooling in San Juan. He went to Madrid on a scholarship and completed studies in Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He then went to France and studied in the Central School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris. In 1853 he returned to Puerto Rico and became a teacher in Botany and Maritime Sciences at the School of Commerce, Agriculture, and Maritime Studies in San Juan. From 1860 to 1865 he also was a delegate to the Spanish parliament. He is considered the father of Puerto Rican Autonomy from Spain, although his achievement was superseded by the U.S. annexation. The statesman fought to abolish slavery and establish a constitution guaranteeing the rights of islanders.
In 1870 he was elected to be a deputy to the Spanish Cortes, supporting abolitionist and autonomist causes. He founded and edited the magazine "Asuntos de Puerto Rico" and contributed to "Correo de Española." He returned to Puerto Rico in 1873 where he founded the newspaper "El Derecho" in Ponce. In 1878, he started a political weekly again in Ponce, "La Crónica," as a vehicle for his autonomist ideology. In 1887, he founded the Autonomist Party, whose platform advocated home government for Puerto Rico and representation in the Spanish parliament. But that year also saw a crackdown against political dissenters and Baldorioty was accused of publishing seditious propaganda and jailed in El Morro Castle. Despite his rapid release, his imprisonment affected his health and he died soon after on September 20, 1889 in Ponce.
José de Diego Martinez
Jurist, poet, journalist, essayist, orator, politician, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence, born April 16, 1866, in Aguadilla. Considered a brilliant orator, de Diego was also a major poet, but his lasting political legacy rests on his advocacy for Puerto Rican independence. He was a founder of the Autonomist Party in 1887 and co-founder, with Luis Muñoz Rivera, of the Unionist Party in 1904. His dream was to see the establishment of a confederation of Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic.
He served as president of the House of Delegates from 1907 to 1917 and speaker of the House of Representatives from 1917 to 1918. He also helped establish the Colegio de Agricultura y Artes Mecánicas de Mayagüez, now the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. De Diego is remembered as an important figure in both modern Puerto Rican poetry and the island's independence movement. Works such as "A Laura" and "Póstuma" established his reputation as a notable love poet. His poetry books include Pomarrosas (1904), Jovillos (1916), Cantos de Rebeldía (1916), and Cantos del Pitirre, published after his death. He died July 17, 1921, in New York and was buried in San Juan.
Felisa Rincón de Gautier
Born January 9, 1897 in Ceiba. Died September 16, 1994 in San Juan. Known affectionately as Doña Fela, Felisa Rincón de Gautier was a political leader, women's rights advocate, and longtime mayor of San Juan. Born in Ceiba, she assisted Luis Muñoz Marín in forming the Popular Democratic Party in the 1930s, but was best known for being the first woman mayor of San Juan (1946-1969). Her weekly open-houses at her official residence and such gestures as flying snow to San Juan for children's Christmas parties made her enormously popular. In 1953 the League of American Women gave her its Woman of the Year Award. She was widely respected for programs benefiting children, older adults, and underserved communities.
Gilberto Concepción de Gracia
Attorney and political leader best known as the founder of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). He became one of the most prominent advocates for Puerto Rican independence during the 20th century.
Eugenio María de Hostos
Born on January 11, 1839 in Rio Cañas, Mayagüez. One of Puerto Rico's greatest intellectuals, educator, philosopher, and advocate for education throughout Latin America.
Hostos received his elementary schooling in San Juan and then went to Spain for both secondary studies and law school. Hostos was educated in Spain and became active in republican politics as a university student there. He left Spain when that country's new constitution (1869) refused to grant independence to Puerto Rico. He went to the United States, where he became editor of the Cuban independence journal La Revolucién in 1870. In Santo Domingo (1879-88) he founded the first normal school and introduced advanced teaching methods, but nine years later he had to leave the country because of his liberal views. He subsequently traveled widely throughout South America and taught in Chile. As professor in the Univ. of Chile, he was instrumental in having women admitted.
He returned to the United States in 1898 and participated actively in the Cuban independence movement, but his hopes for Puerto Rican independence after the Spanish-American War (1898) were disappointed when the U.S. government rejected his proposal for autonomy and instead established its rule over the island as a territory. Hostos returned to the Dominican Republic. Hostos played a major role in reorganizing the educational system of the Dominican Republic. He is widely known throughout Latin America as a publicist of civic reforms, as a rationalist in ethics who believed that to be civilized and to be moral is the same thing, and as a writer of sober, graceful, and didactic prose. He wrote many essays and treatises on social-science topics and was one of the first systematic sociologists in Latin America. His most important was "La Peregrinacién de Bayoán" (1863), a seminal work promoting Cuban independence and revealing on a fiction tone restrictions of the Spanish Colonial regime. The book was suppressed by the Spanish Government. He was also known as a supporter of women's rights. He even wrote his own epitaph: "I wish that they will say: In that island [Puerto Rico] a man was born who loved truth, desired justice, and worked for the good of men." Other works: Moral social (1888); Lecciones de Derecho Constitucional (1887); and a superb essay, Hamlet (1873). He died on August 11, 1903 in Santo Domingo.
Esteban de Jesús
A world lightweight boxing champion remembered for his exciting rivalry with Roberto Durán and for bringing international recognition to Puerto Rican boxing.
María Cadilla de Martínez
Educator, writer, and folklorist who documented Puerto Rican traditions and helped preserve the island's cultural heritage.
Ofelia Torres de Meléndez
Political leader who served as mayor of Orocovis during two periods, first beginning in 1956 and again beginning in 1972, making her an important figure in the municipality's modern political history.
Velda González de Modestti
An actress, dancer, cultural advocate, and longtime senator. She became famous for her television character Azucena and later served six consecutive terms in the Puerto Rico Senate, eventually becoming vice president of that body.
Angelita Bosch de Mora
One of Puerto Rico's pioneering women in healthcare, Angelita Bosch de Mora was among the island's earliest licensed female pharmacists. Throughout her career she served communities in Adjuntas and Ponce, helping open doors for women in the pharmaceutical profession.
Trinidad "Trina" Padilla de Sanz
Poet, writer, pianist, and educator known as La Hija del Caribe. The daughter of José Gualberto Padilla, she became an important literary and cultural figure in her own right.
Lola Rodríguez de Tió
Born September 14, 1843 in San Germán. One of Puerto Rico's most celebrated poets and an advocate for Puerto Rican independence.
This was the first Puerto Rican - born poet to establish a reputation throughout the West Indies. In 1868, inspired by the call for Puerto Rican independence known as the "Grito de Lares," she wrote patriotic lyrics to the existing tune of "La Borinqueba." In 1876 she and her family moved to Mayaguez where she published her first book of poetry, "Mis cantares", which sold 2,500 copies. She is best known for her patriotic poetry about Puerto Rico, as well as Cuba where she lived for many years. She was elected a member of the Cuban Academy of Arts and Letters. Rodriguez de Tio's most famous poem, "Cuba y Puerto Rico Son" (Cuba and Puerto Rico Are), was first published in the collection "Mi Libro de Cuba" (My Book of Cuba) in 1893. She died on November 10, 1924 in La Habana, Cuba. Since her death she has been recognized for her suggestion that Puerto Ricans use the Cuban flag with its colors reversed as the model for their own standard.
Margot Arce de Vázquez
Writer, literary critic, professor, and co-founder of the Puerto Rican Academy of the Spanish Language. Her scholarship helped preserve and promote Puerto Rican literature and Hispanic culture.
Pelegrín López de Victoria
A distinguished writer, journalist, and educator, Pelegrín López de Victoria devoted much of his career to documenting Puerto Rican history, culture, and public affairs. His writings and civic involvement made him a respected voice in the island's intellectual community.
Federico Degetau
Born December 5, 1862 in Ponce. Died January 20, 1914 in Santurce, and was burried in San Juan. Puerto Rico's first Resident Commissioner to the United States Congress and one of Aibonito's most distinguished historical figures. Degetau was a lawyer, diplomat, writer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's political representation.
He received is early education in Ponce, and continued studies in Barcelona, Spain, where he graduated from the law department of the Central Univeristy of Madrid. He founded the newspaper La Isla de Puerto Rico.
After returning to the island, Degetau became an active member of the Autonomist Party, under the leadership of Luis Muñoz Rivera. In 1895, he was among the party's four commissioners sent to Spain to petition for political autonomy for Puerto Rico. The petition was denied, but an autonomic charter was granted three years later. As a Resident Commissioner and member of the Committte on Insular Affairs, he submitted a bill to grant U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico residents, but it was denied. He wrote "El Secreto de la Domadora" (1886), "Que Quijote!," "Cuentos para el Camino", "Juventud" (1895) and "La Injuria" (1893).
Isabel Gutiérrez del Arroyo
Educator and historian recognized for her contributions to Puerto Rican historical research and cultural preservation.
Álvaro Corrada del Río
Jesuit bishop who served several Catholic dioceses in the United States, including Tyler, Texas. He is recognized internationally for his pastoral leadership and humanitarian work.
Baltasar Corrada del Río
Former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Mayor of San Juan, Secretary of State, and Associate Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court. He was one of Puerto Rico's most respected public servants.
Ramón Ortiz del Rivero
Former Major League pitcher.
Benicio del Toro
Born in Santurce, San Juan, Benicio del Toro is one of Puerto Rico's most internationally acclaimed actors. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Traffic (2000) and is also known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, 21 Grams, Sicario, Che, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars film franchises.
Carmen Delgado Votaw
Civil rights advocate, author, and public servant who became an influential international advocate for women's equality. She served as president of the Inter-American Commission of Women and worked extensively to increase women's participation in public and political life.
Carlos Delgado
Former Major League Baseball All-Star and one of Puerto Rico's greatest baseball players, closely associated with Aguadilla.
Teresina Delgado
Poet, public speaker, and musical composer remembered among Toa Baja's important cultural and literary figures.
Abelardo Díaz Alfaro
Born July 24, 1919 in Caguas. Died July 22, 1999 in Guaynabo. Born in Caguas, Abelardo Díaz Alfaro is regarded as one of Puerto Rico's most influential writers. His acclaimed collection of short stories, Terrazo (1947), portrayed the traditions, struggles, humor, and dignity of Puerto Rico's rural communities. His work remains required reading in many Puerto Rican schools and is celebrated for preserving the island's cultural identity and folklore.
Luis Díaz Hernández
Writer and historian associated with Peñuelas whose work contributed to the study and preservation of Puerto Rican history.
Emilio Díaz Valcárcel
Acclaimed novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and educator born in Trujillo Alto. His work explored Puerto Rican society, migration, war, and modern life, establishing him as an important voice in twentieth-century Puerto Rican literature.
José Fermín Díaz Viera
Historian associated with Trujillo Alto whose work contributed to documenting and preserving the municipality's history and cultural memory.
Justino Díaz
Opera singer born January 29, 1940, in San Juan. He was a soloist with the choir of the University of Puerto Rico and studied singing at the New England Conservatory of Music. He has performed with prestigious orchestras and appeared in opera films. His honors include the Handel Medallion, a major cultural distinction awarded by the City of New York, and the National Cultural Medal awarded by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
José I. de Diego Padró
Poet, novelist, journalist, and essayist associated with Puerto Rico's literary avant-garde. Together with Luis Palés Matos, he helped develop the literary movement known as Diepalismo.
Carmen Delia Dipiní
Celebrated singer known as "La Voz de la Ternura," whose recordings of boleros and traditional Puerto Rican music made her one of the island's most admired vocalists.
Edmundo Disdier
Puerto Rican musician and composer whose works include Amor soñado, Lo imposible, and Reflejo.
Braulio Dueño Colón
Born March 26, 1854 in San Juan. Died April 4, 1934 in Bayamón, age 80. Composer and musician known for his contributions to Puerto Rican patriotic and classical music traditions.
He is considered one of Puerto Rico's greatest composers, his most important contribution is perhaps the collections of school songs he wrote specifically for the island's schools, "Canciones Escolares" (1912), which were co-written with Virgilio Dávila and of Manuel Fernández Juncos.
Dueño won many literary-musical competitions in the Ateneo Puertorriqueno. Braulio's best known dances are "Delia y Belen," "Patria," and "La Criolla."
